Civil asset forfeiture is a legal process that allows the police to seize and sell a citizen's private property, even if no crime has been charged against the owner of that property. Several states have recently reformed their civil asset forfeiture laws, and Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, has called for improving federal laws pertaining to this practice.

Michigan has one of the worse-rated civil asset forfeiture laws in the nation, and the panelists listed below will discuss what reforms the state should consider and why.

Jeff Irwin is serving his third term as state representative for the 53rd District. During his tenure in office, Rep. Irwin has sponsored several bipartisan bills that would reform Michigan’s civil asset forfeiture laws.

Prior to his election, Rep. Irwin served the people of Ann Arbor as a Washtenaw County Commissioner for 11 years, chairing the Ways and Means Committee from 2005 to 2006 and chairing the Board of Commissioners as a whole from 2007 to 2008.

Dan Korobkin has been with the ACLU of Michigan since 2008. He litigates on a broad range of civil liberties issues in Michigan, including free speech, juvenile justice, poverty, drug law reform, police misconduct, and prisoners’ rights. He also advocates outside the courtroom to advance civil liberties in Michigan by speaking to students, community groups, and the media.

Korobkin has a law degree from Yale Law School and a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College. Prior to working at the ACLU, Korobkin served as a law clerk to Judge Myron H. Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama and to Judge Robert D. Sack of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Lee McGrath is the Managing Attorney of the Institute for Justice Minnesota office and serves as IJ's Legislative Counsel. He joined the Institute in December 2004 and litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting economic liberty, school choice, private property, freedom of speech and other individual liberties in both federal and state courts in Minnesota and nationally.

Lee received his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in Saint Paul. In addition to his law degree, Lee holds an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago and a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University. Lee was also a Policy Fellow at the Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota.

SKU: EVT-INI20150520

Registration deadline is Mon., May 18 at 12 noon.

Please note: We are unable to guarantee lunch for any guest if the registration is received after the deadline.